Largest storm outage since 1991 cuts power to more than 600,000 homes

DETROIT, MI -- The "second largest weather event" in the history of Detroit-based DTE Energy's history knocked out power to nearly 600,000 customers in southeast Michigan Wednesday.

The "vast majority" of the customers should have their power restored within a couple days, but a small percentage will likely be without power through this weekend, said DTE Electric President and Chief Operating Officer Trevor Lauer.

More than an estimated 2,000 power lines were downed by strong winds with gusts up to 60 mph that lasted from Wednesday morning through about 8 p.m. Wednesday.

DTE prepared for a "significant weather event," but Wednesday's "exceeded all of our forecasts," Lauer said.

Formerly the Detroit Edison Company, the electricity provider was founded in 1903.

The most outages in the history of DTE occurred during a similar windstorm in 1991 when there were just shy of 700,000 customers left without power.

"Wind tends to be the thing that causes a lot of damage, and this one is unique because we've had a relatively warm (season) and we've had a lot of rain over the last couple weeks,"

"It has the effect of loosening the roots on the trees and that causes a lot of trees to fall down."

Lauer said the first priority is to secure all of the downed lines to ensure they don't present a danger to the public. After that is complete, crews that include more than 600 DTE field workers and "multiple hundred" contractors, will work on reconnecting electricity.

"We will be out all night to evaluate the extent of the damage," Lauer said. "By the morning we'll have a good assessment, allowing us to provide customers with an estimate and start the restoration process."